Tigre is a current student in the LTS program, graduating in August!

Hi Tigre! How did you come to know about LTS, and what made you decide to pursue the degree?

I took a little bit of a circuitous route to get to LTS, as I have no previous language teaching experience and had been out of academia for nearly 20 years prior to starting the program. I originally came to UO three years ago to complete a bachelor’s degree in Human Physiology as the first step in a career change, as I thought a career related to physiology or medicine would be a practical way to find interesting and steady work.

However, while in the midst of really struggling through the required series of calculus, physics and anatomy courses for the Human Physiology degree, I took a first-year Swedish class on a whim. This was my first formal language class in decades after having studied as many languages as I could in middle and high school and then completing a previous bachelor’s degree in Italian (and musicology!). As soon as I sat down in that Swedish classroom, I was entranced with language learning again- how exciting it was to learn how to pronounce new sounds and put words together in new ways! However, in all of the classes I was taking, Swedish and science/math alike, I noticed that I spent way more time thinking about how we were learning than I did actually learning the material myself. So I started to think about what it would take to be a language teacher, and googling teacher training programs at UO led me straight to LTS.

What is most compelling to you about language learning and/or teaching?

There’s so much to say about why language learning is compelling! I find it fascinating how our brains build meaning, personal and group identities, and social connections out of the patterned use of sound. You could say that music and language, two things I’ve often pursued concurrently, are used similarly in that way; they both can communicate all range of human experience- from the most quotidian to the most sublime. My partner is a professor of music at UO and we talk frequently about parallels between learning languages and learning music. And we’ve had great conversations around teaching philosophy and how to best create inclusive and supportive learning environments too! I think at the most idealistic core of it, learning a new language is a potent tool for self-actualization, whatever one’s goals in life may be. And as a teacher one gets to create space for that process to happen. Pretty powerful!

You are now well into your MA Project writing and design. What is your topic about, and why did you choose it?

I was inspired to dig into pragmatics for my MA project after taking an LTS seminar in pragmatics with Professor Julie Sykes. I realized through this class that so many of the miscommunications I had when speaking a second language were not due to vocab or grammar errors but rather were due to interpersonal and intercultural factors. I also couldn’t remember any language class I took that addressed these factors explicitly, and so decided to design a project that would do so. My project is aimed at beginning level adult ESL learners and increasing their understanding of how to evaluate and make language choices based on cultural, situational and relational considerations (especially for tricky interactions like apologizing or refusing an invitation). Or more succinctly, how to evaluate whether the language they used did what they wanted it to do. Adult ESL learners already can already do this easily in their L1, so it makes sense to start building on their sophisticated language skills by instructing them how to do so from the very beginning level in English.

You’re also involved in two different internships this term. Can you describe those to us?

I’m interning with two different institutes housed at UO: the American English Institute (AEI) and the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS). At the AEI, I’m a assisting in a multi-level ESL Speaking and Listening class, helping primarily to leading small group discussions or activities. Watching the students’ language skills progress over the term is a joy. At CASLS I’ve been helping to create video and activity content for their weekly InterCom e-newsletter that goes out to teachers and language professionals. I’ve really been enjoying the challenge of figuring out how to communicate complex linguistic ideas and learning strategies in a succinct and visually interesting way for the videos. Each internship complements the other well – the practice teaching and the practice communicating about teaching and learning.

2020-21 has been quite the year to both start and complete an intensive MA program during the Covid-19 pandemic. What are your thoughts on the experience?

I’m sure completing a Master’s degree feels hard whenever one does so, but doing so during a pandemic has felt extra hard, if I’m honest. I’ve definitely been less social with peers and professors than I would have liked to be if we were able to gather in person- one can only stand so many hours a day on Zoom! I am definitely looking forward to meeting everyone in person this summer, once fully vaccinated. One of the great upsides of doing the program online, though, has been seeing creative strategies for online teaching modeled by our professors. They make teaching online look doable and enjoyable, and I feel like I have a ton of new ideas and strategies for if I ever teach online in the future.

Are there any tips for the incoming cohort that you have for the next year?

Take breaks! There will always, always be more schoolwork that you could be doing. Turning off your computer for a whole afternoon and doing something non-school related can feel indulgent and a little fool-hardy during such an intensive program, but it is so needed! During the winter term I made it a priority to hike as much as I could, around 3-4 times a week – having gotten a pandemic puppy was a great motivator for this! Now that it’s spring I am working in my garden at least a little every day, and am so glad for the break from the computer screen.